An excellent summary of prior art panel members is given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,149 and is repeated below verbatim:
“A number of different types of laminated building materials are known. Examples of some of the known laminated building materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,348 to Rothman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,794 to Grieb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,506 to Bauer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,778 to Scrivener, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,235,367 to Holmes et al.
Grieb, U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,794 discloses a laminated building block made up of a foam core with a combined fiberglass and cementitious coating surrounding all sides of the core. The building blocks disclosed by Grieb are self-supporting and may be used in a load-bearing application, without a separate frame, to build structures such as homes and commercial buildings.
Bauer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,506, discloses a decorative composite plate for facing exterior building surfaces. The plate of Bauer et al. has a honeycomb core structure disposed between two cover layers. An outer cover layer carries a decorative panel, which may consist of stone, and the inner cover layer carries a protective plate.
A number of different types of skirting material are known for use with mobile homes. Examples of the known skirting materials include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,323 to Nesbitt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,813 to Hindman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,904 to Stoecker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,793 to Ayers, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,205,720 to Wolfrum.
Although the known laminated building materials are useful for their intended purposes, a need still exists in the art for building materials that are useful for decorative exterior placement on buildings. In particular, there is a need for a relatively lightweight and low cost decorative building material that is easy to install, and that includes a durable material such as stone, tile or brick on an exterior surface thereof, for improving the appearance of buildings.”
It is therefore known to use polyurethane or similar as a component of a panel but such panels are normally structural rather than decorative. None of these are specifically adapted to be used as a decorative panel with extreme lightness, thermal and soundproofing characteristics.
It will be clearly understood that, if a prior art publication is referred to herein, this reference does not constitute an admission that the publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the art in Australia or in any other country.